Researchers at Delft University of Technology, Vrije Universiteit and Harvard's School of Engineering are developing a "next-generation" video p2p platform that turns bandwidth into a global currency. The students are using an enhanced version of a program named Tribler in the hopes of blending social network technology with peer-to-peer systems.

"Our platform will provide fast downloads by ensuring sufficient uploads," says Johan Pouwelse, an assistant professor at Delft University of Technology and the technical director of Tribler. "The next generation of peer-to-peer systems will provide an ideal marketplace not just for content, but for bandwidth in general." Harvard researcher David Parkes admits the idea of community goodwill is not new (Emporium?), but says previous implementations have been expensive and reliant on a company and/or website as the enforcer instead of the community.

Also see the researchers' plans for upcoming features, browse the Python code being used and see their scientific paper (pdf) on their "give to get" algorithm.